Nowhere Is Far Enough
by xxAngelFaithxx
Summary: At the end of Middle School Logan moved back to Kentucky and he and Maryanne broke up. It's five years later and they are both about to start College at Ithaca, in New York. What will happen when these two old flames are reuinited? BRAND NEW CHAPTER!
1. Chapter 1: Leaving

**Summary:**

**At the end of Middle School Logan moved back to Kentucky and he and Maryanne broke up. It is now five years later and they are both about to start College at Ithaca, in New York. What will happen when these two old flames are reunited? Told in first-person narrative from Maryanne's POV.**

**Disclaimers Note: I do not own the characters except for Daniel Wright. All other characters belong to Anne M. Martin**

**Side-note: I'm from Australia, so I have absolutely no knowledge on how the American College system works. Also it has recently been brought to my attention that Ithaca is NOT in the middle of NYC, but rather in the middle of the state. I apologise for any confusion, but for the purpose of this story, please pretend that Ithaca really IS in Manhattan. **

**Chapter One – Leaving**

_I am so nervous. For the first time in my life I am about to be living away from Dad and Sharon and Stoneybrooke. I've been accepted to Ithaca College in NYC, and I'm leaving today. _

_It's exciting – I'll be living in New York, and studying journalism! But I'm scared senseless. At least I'll have Stacey with me. I'm going to miss Dan so much though! How are things going to work with me at Ithaca and him at USC?_

I paused, my pen hovering above my journal as I thought about my boyfriend Daniel Wright, and how hard it had been to part with him the day before. I had gone through and entire box of tissues on the way home from the airport.

My thoughts wandered to the first time I met Daniel. It was my first day at Stoneybrooke Highschool. Logan had moved back to Kentucky at the beginning of the summer, and I was still messed up over our break up, which, although amicable, had been extremely hard.

Claudia, Stacey and Kristy had all been fine, whereas I had been a nervous wreck. I had been rushing towards my homeroom when I collided with the most gorgeous guy I had ever laid eyes on. I think I may have fallen for him on the spot.

We didn't start dating untill our Junior year, but after that we were inseparable. He helped me come out of my shell even further than Logan had. My old friends couldn't believe the transformation. We had all changed, grown apart. Kristy and I drifted apart, Claudia fell in with the "Artsy" crowd, but Stacey and I remained firm friends, so she witnessed my change more than anyone. Deep down I was still shy, quiet Maryanne, terrified of the spotlight and attention, but with Daniel by my side I could push her aside and be more outgoing.

And now I we were going to be on opposite ends of the country. In touch only by email and phone. Months without him, without seeing his smile or hearing his laugh. What was I going to do? What was he going to do in California by himself anyway? I had made Dawn promise to look after him, but they had only met a handful of times, so he might feel weird about that.

"Maryanne!" Dad called up the stairs. "It's almost time to go!"

I sighed, and closed my journal, sliding it into my carrybag and zipping it shut. My room was packed up, my suitcases and boxes waiting in the car. My eyes fell on Tigger's old cat basket and I began to tear up, missing my poor little kitten who had died under the wheels of a car in my freshman year. Dad had offered to buy me another cat, but I would have none of it. No other cat would ever replace my Tiggy.

I surveyed myself in the mirror. I had let my hair grow out again in highschool, and I had recently had it trimmed, layered and coloured a dark chestnut brown. Gone were the days of mousey-haired Maryanne. I wanted to make a good impression at Ithaca. I turned around slowly, critically examining my jean flares and baby pink singlet top.

"Well, this is as good as it's gonna get." I said outloud.

I headed downstairs, to find Dad sitting calmly at the kitchen table and Sharon running around in a state of hysteria trying to find her car keys. She located them in the fridge, and turned around to see me descend the stairs. She looked at me for a split second and then burst into tears. Dad and I both ran to comfort her and almost ended up with a collision.

"I'm s-sorry!" Sharon choked. "B-but first Dawn and now y-you!"

I could feel myself start to tear, but thankkfully Dad managed to calm Sharon down. She gave me a sort of wavery smile, and headed towards the car. Dad looked at me, and smiled.

"You look so grown up." He said, but there was something in his voice that startled me a litte – sadness.

"Dad, what's wrong?" I asked gently.

He shook his head. "It's nothing, just – you look so much like your mother. I wish she were here to see you. You've come so far, and she would have been so proud." Dad opened his arms and I threw myself into them.

"I'm so proud of you Maryanne." He said. After a few minutes we broke apart. "Now, let's not keep Sharon waiting any longer."

Dad walked outside to where Sharon was waiting by the car. I stepped out of the house and closed the front door behind me. I paused, and turned back to look at the house. My house. The one I had lived in for the past five years and was now leaving.

I turned towards the car, and hurried towards it, my eyes misting over, missing everything already.


	2. Chapter 2: College Girl

**Chapter Two – College Girl**

We pulled into the grounds at Ithaca two hours later, and I emerged from the car, sore, a little tired and a bit disoriented. I hazily gazed around at the other students milling around me, as Dad and Sharon moved towards the boot. I stood and gazed at the dorms where I would sleep and the halls where I would study. I could feel my excitement build as I soaked up my surroundings.

"Maryanne?" Dad called, breaking into my reverie. "Why don't you go on ahead, collect your class schedules and so on, while I see to the best way to get your things into your room."

I nodded my head, my chest tightening. This was it. This was goodbye. I approached Sharon first, who immediately started to sob. I could feel tears slipping down my cheeks as I hugged my stepmother. I then turned to Dad. He once again had an immense look of pride on his face that was tainted by the sadness in his eyes. He hugged me close, and kissed my forhead.

"Go on, honey," he smiled at me. "Make us proud."

I turned from them and hurried across the quad to where a table had been set up for new students to collect their class schedules. I waited patiently in line, looking around warily as I did so, and wishing that I knew at least one of the hundreds of faces that surrounded me. As I finally reached the front of the line I heard a familiar voice call my name.

I picked up my manilla folder which contained class schedule, events and a map and turned to see Stacey McGill racing across the quad towards me, her long blonde hair whipping several people as she passed them. I noticed that several guys were eyeing her as she sped towards me – I had to admit she did look fantastic, dressed in a short denim skirt, scarlett boobtube and knee-high boots. She skidded to a stop in front of me and threw her arms around my shoulders.

"God, it is so good to see you!" she exclaimed, letting go of me. "Wow, you look great – I always loved that colour on you. You know we're roomies right? Oh, I love being back in New York!"

She flung her arms out and did a tiny dance on the spot, giggling. I couldn't believe it – here was Stacey – cool, sophisticated Stacey – acting like a twelve-year-old school girl. Her enthusiasm was contagious however, and soon we were both giggling and skipping towards our dorm building, clutching at each other's arms as we took everything in.

We climbed the stairs of our dorm building and found our room – 315 – on the third floor. It was a fairly big room, with two single beds underneath two big windows which looked out onto the campus. Stacey already had her side unpacked, her favourite poster of NYC at night on the wall next to her bed, and an assortment of cosmetics strewn across her dresser.

I turned to survey my side, which consisted of half a dozen packed boxes. I sighed and moved towards them, opening them up and starting to deposit clothes into my wardrobe and chest of drawers. Stacey crossed the room and started to help me. She managed to secure the box that had all my bedlinen in it, and she held up my midnight-blue bedspread.

"I love this," she announced, hurrying over to place it on my bed.

"Stace, you don't have to hang around and help me," I said. "Go explore."

She shook her head. "We'll do that together later. Besides I like being helpful."

I smiled. "OK."

We unpacked in a comfortable silence that was occasionally interrupted by Stacey asking where I wanted what, or exclaiming over several of the new clothes that Dad had bought me at the end of the summer.

"Wow!" Stacey said, holding up a blue strappy sundress, that was supposed to fit snugly. "I can't believe your Dad let you buy some of these things."

"I'm eighteen now, Stace, not twelve." I reminded her, finally shoving the last of my shirts into my dresser, and closing the drawer.

"I know, but it's hard to let go of that stuff – memories and the like. I mean, it felt like we were in 8th grade for two years."

I nodded in agreement, and shut my cupboard door. "So, ready to go have a look at our wonderful campus?" I asked.

Stacey nodded in agreement, and we headed out. We wandered across the grounds, checking out the buildings where we would have classes, the cafeteria, study halls and other dorm buildings. Everything was exciting and new, and I began to feel a little nervous, but still excited at the same time. Stacey saw a few people she had known from when she lived in New York.

"I wish Laine had ended up coming here," she sighed.

"What school did she end up at?" I asked.

"North Western," Stacey replied vaguely. She had been distracted by a group of guys walking past who were eyeing her with interest. "Y'know there are a lot of very cute guys here." She commented.

"What about Sam?" I teased. After a few years of flirting and indecision (and a million and one boyfriends for Stace) she and Sam Thomas had finally gotten together officially in our Senior year. Sam had decided to skip College and had taken up a mechanic job in Stoneybrooke. He was eventually hoping to buy the shop and run it by himself.

Stacey shrugged as we entered our dorm building again, and settled ourselves on a couple of plush sofas in the foyer.

"We're on a break. Gonna see what happens. Speaking of guys, how are you gonna survive without Dan?"

I started to reply, but was suddenly distracted by an all-too familiar voice just behind me.

"Sure, it'll be a piece of cake. Ah've had plainy of expurience."

It couldn't be – it just couldn't.

Slowly, almost praying that I was wrong, I turned in my seat.

There was no mistaking that voice. And when I turned I saw him. Reddish-brown hair, gorgeous smile and looking more like Cam Geary than ever, Logan Bruno was standing not two feet away from me.


	3. Chapter 3: A Familiar Face

**Chapter Three – A Familiar Face**

For a moment it was like I was frozen in time. Stacey glanced from Logan to me and back again, and then gave me a swift kick to the shins. I jumped and glared at her, rubbing my leg. Her eyes were telling me to say something, _do something_.

"Maryanne?"

I jumped up and turned to face Logan. He'd grown several inches, and his face had matured, but he was still the same old Logan that I had known – and once cared for so much.

"H-hi," I stammered. "What are you doing here?"

I immediately wanted to kick myself. Judging by the look on Stacey's face, if I had been within reaching distance she would have kicked me again too. Logan however, smiled.

"Just starting today. Commerce. What about you?"

I tried to clear my throat, and found that it seemed to have been invaded by cobwebs. "Journalism." I croaked.

"Nice." Logan glanced towards Stacey, who was watching us with interest. "Hey Stace. How's it going?"

"Not bad. How are you?"

Logan shrugged. "Can't complain. So, what's your course?"

"Fashion design," Stacey replied, not really paying attention, as a couple of guys walked passed. "Well, I'll leave you two alone."

I tried to signal with my eyes _no!_ but she was up and gone in a flash, hurrying to talk to the guys who had just passed her. I turned back to Logan, who was looking at me with a look in his eyes that I couldn't read – and once I'd known him so well!

"It's really good to see you," he said quietly. "Can we talk?"

I nodded, not really trusting myself to speak. We headed outside, across the quad.

"So, how was Louisville?" I asked stupidly.

Logan smiled again. How could I have forgotten that smile?

"Weird at first – settling back into things. Lewis was stoked though."

"How is Lewis?" I asked.

"Not bad. He started at USC last year."

"Oh," I hid a smile. "Maybe he and Dawn will run into each other. Although she's probably too busy trying to look after Daniel – " I stopped abruptly.

"Who's Daniel?" Logan asked casually.

"My – um – my boyfriend," I stammered out.

A brief look of disappointment flashed through Logan's eyes, but it was gone so quickly that I began to think that maybe I'd imagined it. We walked through the campus in silence – it wasn't awkward, but it wasn't exactly comfortable. I couldn't believe that it was all happening – there I had been, so excited about starting College, never dreaming that I would run into Logan, of all people. And now here we were, as if time had stood still and we had never broken up.

Already I could feel myself starting to become confused. Daniel was hundreds of miles away, in a different place, even a different time zone, and here I was, feeling guilty about just walking with Logan. OK, we weren't doing the same course, so we probably didn't share any classes, but by the looks of things we were in the same dorm building – how could I avoid seeing him?

But then why would I want to avoid seeing him? Yes, Logan used to be my boyfriend, but we weren't together anymore, and I didn't have feelings for him – why couldn't we be friends?

"Are you OK?" Logan asked, breaking into my confused thoughts.

"Fine!" I offered him a fake smile. "So, why Ithaca?"

Logan shrugged. "I applied to as many colleges as possible, and I got accepted to North Western, Columbia, Duke and here – and I love New York – not as much as you though."

I smiled for real. "Yeah. I always had a bit of a love-affair going on with this city, didn't I?"

"I missed you Maryanne," Logan said softly, stopping, and turning to me. He took one of my hands in his, and my heart started to pound like mad.

"I – I missed you too," I replied shakily.

"Do you – um – feel like catching up properly?" he asked hesitantly.

I paused. Sure – I was allowed to have friends. Even if one of them was my ex-boyfriend. Logan and I were both adults now. We could get along with no romantic involvement.

"I'd love to."

"Great!" Logan grinned, and I could feel myself melting. "There a great little café about two blocks from here. What's your class schedule like?"

"Umm – I have two classes tomorrow morning, but I'm free over lunch and then I have a free period."

"Great. Want to meet me in the foyer of our dorm building?"

I nodded, barely able to speak. Logan smiled, and dropped a light kiss on my cheek, which warmed where his lips touched it.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

He ran off, leaving me feeling totally bewildered. I had a date – no not a _date_. A meeting with Logan Bruno. Shaking my head clear of my turbulent thoughts, I headed back towards my dorm building.

My cheek was still warm.


	4. Chapter 4: Hiding

**Chapter Four – Hiding**

_Dear Dan,_

_Well, Ithaca is every bit as exciting as I thought it would be. Stacey and I explored the whole campus today. Guess what? I ended up running into an old friend…_

_Dear Dan_

_How's USC? Seen anyone you know? I ran into an old classmate…_

_Dear Dan_

_Miss you already. Ithaca is so exciting. The funniest thing happened today. I ran into…_

I sighed in frustration as I deleted my third unfinished email to Daniel. I had no idea what to say. He knew about Logan and my history, but how would he react when he found out that my first long-term boyfriend was attending the same College as me? And that I was meeting up with him on my first day at school? Would he be mad? Jealous?

Or maybe I was just being paranoid. Daniel had always understood me, always been so patient and sensitive – maybe he wouldn't mind. After all, Logan and I were only thirteen when we dated. Five years had passed, we didn't have feelings for each other anymore.

Did we?

I stood up and crossed to the window, opening it up and letting some fresh air in. I tried to sort through my conflicting thoughts. I had cared for Logan – yes. We had been together for a long time, and had survived a lot. If he hadn't moved we would probably still be together. But I was so young. Thirteen is too young to fall in love. On the other hand I had always been mature for my age. But I was with Dan – and Logan and I were different people now. I didn't want to be with him. I just wanted to be friends.

_Just friends._

I stood there for a few minutes watching students moving around below me. I was startled out of my reverie by the phone ringing.

"Hello?"

"Maryanne! It's so good to hear your voice."

"Dan!" I squeaked. "W-wow, I didn't expect to hear from you so soon. I was just in the middle of sending you an email."

Dan chuckled, and I could feel my heart beating at the sound of his wonderful laugh. God how I missed him.

"I guess great minds think alike," he said.

"How did you get this number?" I asked. "We only got it connected today."

"Your Dad," he replied.

"Oh," I fell silent. Should I bring up Logan?

"So, explored your campus yet?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah. Stace and I checked it out."

"Everything you hoped for?"

"And more."

I nervously twisted the phone cord around my wrist. This was my chance. I could casually slip it into the conversation that I'd run into Logan. No big deal, right? Just an innocent encounter with an old friend.

_More than a friend._

But not anymore. Not anymore. I loved Daniel. My wonderful, caring boyfriend.

Who was hundreds of miles away.

Daniel was rambling on about USC, the campus, his new classes, but I was only half-listening. My mind was a turmoil of thoughts, arguing back and forth about whether or not to tell him.

"Maryanne?"

I broke out of my stupor. "Sorry. Stace just came in," I lied. _What was wrong with me?_

"Oh. Well, I should probably let you go. Dawn sends her love."

'Tell her I send mine."

"Will do." There was a pause. "I love you Maryanne."

I paused too. "I love you."

I hung up the phone feeling more confused than ever.


	5. Chapter 5: First Day

**Chapter 5 – First Day**

"I look like a skank," the words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"Gee thanks!" Stacey retorted. I wasn't surprised, considering I was wearing her clothes – a short black skirt, chunky platform sandals and a purple corset-like top that made my bust move up about two cup sizes. "And what does that make me?"

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that Stace!" I tried to cover my verbal blunder. "It's just, it isn't _me_."

Stacey grinned at me to show she wasn't really mad, and crossed to my wardrobe to have a look. I turned back to the mirror, tugging at the bottom of Stacey's top. I could hear Stacey rustling around in my wardrobe.

I had woken that day in a state of confusion, excitement and trepidation. I kept telling myself that I was overreacting, that nothing was going to happen, and realizing how narcissistic it was to think that Logan might want to pick things up again. For all I knew he had a new girlfriend and only wanted to catch up with an old friend.

Stacey had woken not long after me and had dragged me, bleary-eyed and still half-asleep, out of bed and practically shoved me into the showers. She had then emptied half my wardrobe onto the bed and proceeded to try and pick out the "perfect" outfit for me to wear.

"See, it's not only your date with Logan," she had explained. "It's also your first day of College! You have to make an impression Maryanne."

She was already dressed in a pair of flared hipster jeans, pointed-toe boots and a white short sleeved fitted top, which she'd dressed up with a sparkly thin blue scarf draped around her neck and over her shoulders.

My thoughts were broken by Stacey throwing the blue sundress she'd admired the day before at me. I caught it and held it at arms length. I'd only worn it once before. It was pretty snug, the only reason I could get away with wearing it was because I was still depressingly thin – sometimes I longed for a more curvaceous body.

"You gonna stare at it all day, or actually put in on?" Stacey grinned at me.

I fought back a smile, and quickly switched outfits. Stacey then handed me a light denim jacket with three-quarter length sleeves.

"OK. Now that you've successfully dressed me, think we could head to class?" I teased Stacey.

"Oh, you're funny," she smiled back.

We headed out. We both had Psych101 first, then Stacey was heading towards Drama, while I went to English Lit. The campus was abuzz with activity, and I almost forgot about my date with Logan amidst all the excitement.

Stacey and I located our class without too much difficulty. Our Professor was a short woman with a loud voice, who made it clear that anyone not giving a hundred and ten percent would be thrown mercilessly out of the class. I could feel Stacey fidgeting uncomfortably beside me at those words. Despite the scariness of the Professor the class went by quickly, and by the end I was already in love with the subject.

"Wow, that was intense," Stacey breathed as we exited the lecture hall. "She is _scary_!"

"Yep," I agreed. "I don't know if I'm ever going to brave enough to raise a hand in that class."

Stacey smiled as we rounded a corner and found ourselves face-to-face with Logan.

"Hey guys," he said, flashing a smile that made my heart flutter. "How was class?"

"Terrifying," Stacey replied, stalking past him and stopping at a drinking fountain,

Logan's grin widened. "Maryanne, I'll see you twelve?"

Over Logan's shoulder I saw Stacey grin and wiggle her eyebrows suggestively at me. Making a mental note to kick her next time she was within reach, I smiled at Logan and nodded.

"Foyer of the Dorm?" I asked, making sure I'd remembered correctly.

"See you then," Logan smiled radiantly and turned and waved to Stacey before sauntering off.

I hurried over to her and kicked her swiftly in the shins.

"Ow!" she complained.

"You suck," I muttered, trying not to smile.

"I so do not," she replied, rubbing her leg. "It's just kind of romantic is all. Like something from the movies … old flames re-united after years apart."

"Sure, except one of these old flames has a boyfriend," I reminded her.

"Look, Maryanne, I'm sorry if I'm being a pain," Stace smiled apologetically. "You know I can't resist teasing you, sometimes. Remember how bad I was when you first starting dating Dan?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes but added a smile to show I wasn't really mad. As we started to move. The two of us walked down the end of the hall and then split to head to our different classes.

I hurried towards English Lit, trying to get enthused about the class.

But all I could think was that twelve o'clock couldn't come fast enough.


End file.
